BOWLING GREEN — Bowling Green State University wide receiver Chris Gallon was working out this summer, preparing for the season ahead.

Then his heart sunk.

“We were doing sprints in conditioning, and I felt a tug on my knee,” Gallon said. “Then it popped a little bit.

“I thought it was a tissue injury, but the doctors said it was more.”

It turns out Gallon had re-torn his left ACL, an injury that caused him to miss the final seven games of last season — and now will force him to miss all of the coming season.

So while the Falcons came together at Doyt Perry Stadium on Saturday for Photo Day, full of smiles and excitement at the prospects for the season ahead, Gallon’s excitement was tempered. He knows that, while Bowling Green enters the 2014 campaign picked to repeat as Mid-American Conference champs, he will watch from the sidelines.

“When [the injury] first happened, it was rough,” Gallon said. “But I think I still have a bright future ahead of me, so I’m just taking it day-by-day.

“I know coach [Dino] Babers and the other coaches were upset I was injured, but I’m not going anywhere. And next year I’ll be ready — and 100 percent.”

Babers said the negatives of Gallon’s situation are obvious, but there are positives as well.

“The thing that hurts is that he had rehabbed his knee, and then it went out again and he has to have another surgery, so I feel badly for Chris,” Babers said. “But from a football standpoint, it can be a blessing.

“He can have the surgery done correctly, and he can stay off it for a year and then come back and have two and a half years experience in this [offense] rather than one and a half.

“He’ll come out of this smelling like a rose.”

POTENTIAL NEWCOMERS: The Palm Beach Post reported on Friday that defensive end Malik Brown has transferred from Tennessee to BG.

Brown was a highly regarded lineman from Dwyer High School in Palm Beach, Fla., the same school that produced potential Falcon teammates Darrell Hunter, Mike Minns, and Clint Stephens. Brown suffered a pair of wrist injuries last season and did not play for the Volunteers.

The Post reported that Brown is rooming with another potential transfer, wide receiver Robbie Rhodes, who left Baylor last month.

The two players have petitioned the NCAA for clearance to play this season.

“We have to wait and see,” Babers said regarding both players.

HOUSTON OUT: Sophomore running back William Houston, who was accused of attempted rape roughly two weeks ago, was not with the team on Saturday.

Babers said he is not allowed to discuss Houston’s situation.

BROWN LEAVES: Junior Coy Brown, a reserve linebacker last season, has chosen to leave the team. Last season, Brown finished with 11 tackles in 14 games for the Falcons.